Church minister calls for fixed Easter date

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A Church of England minister has called for a fixed date for Easter to avoid the annual “confusion and disruption”.

Easter, one of the Christian church’s most important feasts, falls at some point between late March and late April each year as it follows the cycle of the moon rather than the civil calendar.

As a result of the varying dates, families and schools find it difficult to make plans for the public holiday.

The Revd Andrew Dow, Gloucester Diocese, has set down a private members’ motion ahead of the General Synod next month calling for a set date.

The motion says: “That this Synod, mindful of the confusion and disruptions caused by the varying date of Easter, request the Archbishops’ Council to work with the Government and relevant ecumenical bodies to fix the date of Easter on a weekend in the Spring appropriate to the Church’s mission to the nation, and local communities, and conducive to the smooth running of the educational system,” the motion said.

This year, Easter falls on April 12, but last year it was March 23, the earliest this century.

But Dow’s motion is unlikely to be discussed at the synod because so far it has failed to attract the necessary backing.

It has even less chance of being implemented, a spokesman for the Church of England added.

The last time the government looked at the issue was in 1928 when an Act of Parliament set out legislation to allow the date be fixed on the Sunday falling in the week of April 9.

However, its implementation is subject to all nominations agreeing to such a move, and the last time the Synod of Orthodox churches met was hundreds of years ago.